1. قلبي على هَجْرِ مَنْ أهواه في أَلَمِ

    وحالتي بعده نارٌ على عَلَمِ

    My heart is in pain at the estrangement of the one I love.

    And my plight in his absence is a fire upon a height.

  2. رقّتْ لحاليَ أَصْلاَدُ الصّخور وما

    رثى لحالي وما آوى إلى سَقَمي

    The hardest rocks softened at my plight, yet

    He showed no pity for my plight, nor turned toward my sickness.

  3. أَنْشَدْتُهُ عَذْبَ أَلْحَاني أُلَيِّنُهَا

    والدّمعُ والوَجْدُ في فَيْضٍ وفي ضَرَمِ

    I sang him my sweet melodies, making them gentle,

    While tears poured forth and passion blazed.

  4. لعلّ كأْسَ الرّهاوي أن يعطّفَه

    ويقتضي منه ما يُبْرِي من الألم

    Perhaps the cup of al-Rahāwī will move him to tenderness,

    And draw from him what cures the pain.

  5. وحرمة الذّيل لا واللّه أَقصِدُها

    فالرّصْد للذّيل أمرٌ ليس من شِيَمِي

    By the sanctity of the hem—no, by God, I do not seek it;

    For watching the hem is no habit of mine.

  6. وَهَبْ لِسانِيَ مزموما عليه أما

    هو الحُسَيْن الذي يُبْرِي من اللَّمَمِ

    And suppose my tongue is bridled concerning him—is not

    He al-Ḥusayn, who cures fits of madness?

  7. بالأَصْبَعَيْنِ لَوَ أنّ البحرَ يتركه

    أُعَدِّدُ الرّمل ما لا أن يعزّ دمي

    With two fingers, if the sea would leave it be,

    I would count the sand—not that my blood should be held dear [wording unclear].

  8. ولو أرى سيكة تدني مودّته

    كان العراق على ملكي ومِنْ خَدَمي

    And if I saw a Sīka that brought his affection nearer,

    Iraq would be under my rule and among my servants.

  9. يا كم رسى رصَد منّي لغرّته

    كالأصبهان أناخ العيس بالألم

    Oh, how often a watch of mine stood fast for his radiant brow,

    Like al-Aṣbahān, it made the pale camels kneel in pain.

  10. أشكو النّوى ولكم جرى دمي فسقى

    رمْلَ الصحاري ورملَ المايا الأَكَمِ

    I lament separation; how often my blood has flowed and watered

    The desert sands and the sandy hills of al-Māyā.

  11. قولوا له صبّك الملهوف في لَهَفٍ

    و ماية فَاعفُ واصْفَحْ يَا أَخا الكَرَمِ

    Tell him: your distraught lover is in anguish.

    By Māya, then pardon and forgive, O brother of generosity.

  12. هو الذي بَشَّرَتْ توراةُ موسى به

    وباسمه صرّح الإنجيل للأمم

    He is the one whom the Torah of Moses heralded,

    And the Gospel openly proclaimed his name to the nations.

  13. هو الذي دُونَه الرُّسْلُ الكِرَامُ ومَنْ

    دانت له النّاس من عُرْبٍ ومن عَجَمِ

    He is the one beneath whom stand the noble messengers, and the one

    To whom people submitted, Arabs and non-Arabs alike.